Apparatus for treating substances in a finely-divided condition



Patented June 27, 1922.

P. POORE.

APPARATUS FOR TREATING SUBSTANCES IN A FINELY DIVIDED CONDITION.

AIFLICATION FILED APR. I3. 1920.

Inventor .ttorfwy.

Fig .3.

P. POORE.

APPARATUS FOR TREATING SUBSTANCES IAN A FINEL'Y DIVIDED CONDITION.

ArPLlcATloN4 FILED APmls, 1920.

1,420,944.` Patented Ju11e27, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

L Fig.2.

Inventur j PHILIP POORE, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

rastrear.,

Specification of Letters Patent.

lwatented June 27, 1922.

Application filed April '13, 1920'. Serial No. 373,602.

Be it Iknown that I, PHILIP Poema, a subject of the King of GreatBritain and Ireland,.residing at l/d Paternoster tow, London, E. C'.,England, have invented certain new and useful improvements relating toapparatus for treating substances in a finely-divided condition or forcarrying out processes in the use of materials in a inelydividedcondition,i of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for treating substances in a finelydivided condition or for carrying out processes in the use of materialsin a inely divided condition. lt is applicable for example to apparatusfor the carbonization of saw-dust or for carbonizing other carbonaceousmaterials in a finely divided condition. It is also applicable in thetreatment of vapours or gases with substances in a finely dividedcondition. It is also applicable for example to a lime purifier or infact for any purpose or process where contactl is required betweenfiuids and solids in a finely divided condition.

One of the objects of the invention is to utilize a rotating casingconveniently of cylindrical form in which the material to be treated, orthe material used in the treatment, is charged, vand according to theinvention a flue or flues is or are provided within this rotatingcasing, and these tiues are so constructed that while the vapour or gasmay pass into the 'due or flues from within the casing` or into thecasing from the flue or vlluesor both, according to the character of thetreatment being carried out, the material treated or used in thetreatment is, notwithstanding that it is in a finely divided condition,prevented from passing into the Hue so as to accumulate therein, whileyet free ingress and egress is permitted to the vapour or gas.

According to the invention the flue or lues is or are provided withannular or other shaped pockets so formed that there is freecommunication for a fluid such as vapour or gas to pass through thepockets, but any solid matter such as the inely dividedsubstance treatedor used in the treatment, is intercepted within theV annular or othershaped pocket and prevented from accumulating in the flue.

According to one modicatoa of the iiivention the intercepting annular'pockets are each formed of two walls and as thesevannular pockets aredisposed adjacent each other, the walls of the series of pockets thusform an outer and inner wall for the flue. `,The outer wall of eachpocket is provided of a 'ridge form and a hole or holes is or areprovided at the summit of the ridge, se that thus, should any of thefinely divided material fall into the pocket in one position in therotation of the casing, it may readily fall out in other positions byreason of the downwardly inclined or ridge formation of the outer wallof the pocket. The hole at the ridge may advantageously be a circular orannular slot extending completely around the outer wall. The inner wallof each pocket is provided of a similar shape to. the outer wall, Vbutthe ridge of the outer wall is opposedby a furrow of the inner wall, andthe lowest part of the furrow of the inner wall is disposed opposite tothe hole or holes of the ridge of the outer wall; but the inner wall ofeach pocket is at the sides diverted outwardly towards the outer walland to .form a flange on each side having a flat face, so that theadjacent sections of the inner wall of the flue have a space leftbetween them forming a continuous circular or annular slot through whichgas or vapour may pass from inside the flue into the pocket. and throughthe pocket to the outside, or vice versa; and while the hole or holesformed in the outer wall of each of the pockets permits of the nelydivided material` passing to some extent into the pocket, the outwardlyextending flanges provided at the respective sides of the inner wall ofearch pocket prevent the passage of the material into the flue. Shouldany of the finely divided material however ind its way into the Hue, theinclination of the outside of the inner wall towards the circular orannular slot causes its return to the pocket on the rotation of thecasing, and its4 passage from he pocket to the casing. is caused in themanner described.

The flue may be divided into a number of sections by a diametrie wall atintervals, so as thus when treating material within the casing by meansof vapour or gas, the vapour may be led into one length of the flue, thevapour or gas passing thence into the casing and from the casing int-othev next section of the flue and SOy OD and rlall'y to the outlet endof the flue. For the purpose the end plates of the casing may beprovided with an inlet and outlet pipe connection respectively withmeans to permit of the rotation of the casing while maintaining a gastight joint. Furthermore radial baffle plates or ledges may be providedon the inner wall of the casing for the purpose of lifting the materialto a considerable height on the rotation of the casing and such bailleplates may be arranged in any manner with their-faces or edges parallelwith the axis of rotation or inclined or otherwise disposed.

rlhe invention comprises the constructional features which arehereinafter described.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanyingdrawings in which- Figure l represents a sectional elevation with theflue partly shown in section of a rotating retort provided according tothe invention.

Figure 2 is a cross section on the line -fz/ Figure l, while Figure 3 isa partial sectional elevation on a larger scale than indicated in Figurel illustrating one method of construction.

Figure l is a diagrammatic longitudinal section of a modification.

In carrying the invention into effect according to one construction asillustrated in the accompanying drawings which for example is applicableto the purpose of distillation of sawdust or other carbonaceoussubstance in a finely divided condition, I may provide a cylindricalcasing a` to contain the sawdust or other carbonaceous substance to bedistilled, and I may provide the necessary means for example a chainwheel b for causing the rotation of the cylindrical casing a. A pipe ois fitted to the cylinder a to carry off the vapor. The cylinder a ismounted for rotation in a usual manner within any desired type offurnace. In a central axial position within the casing a I mount theflue (Zv and this for example may be of a diameter of one-third that ofthe casing n., but it will be understood that the relative dimensions ofparts will be determined according` to the particular conditions andrequirements. At the rear end of the casing a the end plate e may beprovided with an inwardly protruding cylindrical flange el for thereception of the end of the flue al and in intermediate positions armsor brackets j may be provided lying against the outer wall of the casinga for the support of the flue (l in intermediate positions.r while atthe front end, the end plate g of the casing may be provided with acylindrical flange g1 forming a central aperture through which thecentral fl'ue al maybe introduced into the casing a or withdrawn andthrough which admission may be had to the flue al for inspection orrepair, and this central aperture may be covered by means of a removablecover plate g2.

rEhe flue d is made up of a number of annular plates of metal h 7i and i2'. formed with annular flat flanges h1, h3 and 1, each plate having aconical peripheral part. rIhus the outer wall of the series of annularpockets is formed of pairs z' i of such plates disposed back to back sothat the flat annular flanges l are disposed adjacent and in verticalplanes and the conical peripheries are directed and flare outwardly.Each connected pair of plates 7L 71. and z' z' may be mounted upon anumber of parallel disposed longitudinal rods 7' passing through theannular flat flanges 7111 and l respectively and is secured and spacedapart upon the longitudinal rods j by means of collars lc, and therespective plates of each pair /t it and t' i may be connected togetherby riveting. The respective pairs of plates L 7i and i z' are spacedapart so that a space or interval is left between their adjacent outeredges. One of each adjacent pair of plates i serves to form the outerwall of the annular pockets. In a similar way the inner wall of therespective annular pockets is formed by two annular plates It 7L whichare riveted together by rivets h2 passing through their adjacent flatannular flanges 7a3. The respective peripheral parts of these respectivepairs of plates incline inwardly. to form a furrow in line with theridge and circumferential hole or slot Z in the outer wall of thepocket. and the inner wall of the pocket thus formed is providedlaterally with flat annular flanges 7111 which serve to carry the platesforming the inner wall upon the longitudinal rods The flue (Z may thusbe made up of a number of annular plates of concave or V shape form asillustrated. In the case of the outer series of plates i this concavityis preferably shallow. The inner series of plates 7L 7L may be formed ofconcave or V-shaped rings of greater concavity. The back and frontsurfaces of the annular flanges of both series of plates may correspond,and be parallel, or again the convex surfaces may have greater convexitythan the concave surfaces have concavity.

The collars 7a by means of which the respective plates c' e' forming thesections of the outer wall are secured in position upon the longitudinalrods y' may serve as distance pieces to determine the space between thelateral flanges h1 of the inner wall, and the flanges l of the outerwall of the respective pockets. Any suitable number of parallel disposedrods may be used to carry and to secure together the respective seriesof plates h z' to form the flue d, and the rods may be connected attheir respective ends to the flanges m1 of rings m, The

ring fm, at one end fits within the cylindrical flange e1 of the endplate e of the casing a, while the ring m at the other end of the fiuefits within the cylindrical flange r/l. In intermediate positions asbefore stated the flue thus foimed may be supported by arms or bracketsfrom the outer casing a, these arms or brackets being connected at theirends to the rods j at intervals according to the length of the flue.

In the use of the retort the sawdust or other substance to be distilledor treated may be charged into the retort casing a through the aperture0 and the aperture 0 may then be closed by a cover plate 01. The retortcasing a is then introduced into the heating furnace and while subjectto heat the retort casing a is continuously or periodically ron tated.

In distillation the vapours produced pass through the circumferentialslots Z into the respective annular pockets and thence through theannular spaces between the respective fianges l and h1 and thencethrough the fitting c1 into the vapour discharge pipe. Any sawdust thatfinds access to the annular pockets in an upper position of the finewill on the rotation of the fine into a lo-wer position pass down thewall of the plates 4 through the slot Z and any sawdust that may findaccess from the annular pockets into the flue through the annular spacesbetween the respective flanges h1 and 1 in an upper position will in therotation of the flue into a lower position pass down the inner face ofthe annular plates it back through the annular space between the flanges/tl and l and thence will ultimately pass out of the pocket through thecircular hole or slot Z. By such means the vapour's produced in thedistillation find ready access into the flue and the charge indistillation notwithstanding that it is in finely divided condition isretained within the casing.

The apparatus illustrated in Figures l to 3 of the accompanying drawingsmay with slight variation be used for the treatment of substances in afinely divided condition. In such a case the flue constructed ashereinbefore described may as diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 4be provided with diametrical partitions 10 carried upon the rods 7' andannular partitions Q may be mounted within the casing in a positionbetween the partitions p and p1 so that thus the vapour or gas passingthrough the end fitting c1 at one end of the casing a may take a courseindicated by the arrows w, the vapour discharging through the endfitting o.

I claim:

1. An apparatus of the kind described comprising a casing mounted forrotary movement and having a flue extending longitudinally thereof withits axis coinciding with the axis of the flue, pockets extending betweenthe flue and the casing and having communication with both to permit ofthe free passage therebetween of gases, said pockets provided withinclined walls adapted to direct solid matter into the casing and fromentering the flue, substantially as described.

2. An apparatus of the kind described comprising a rotatably supportedcasing having a flue therein with` its axis coincident wit-h the axis ofthe casing, pockets extending annularly about the flue and havingcoInmunication with the interior of the casing and being furtherprovided with circumferential slots setting up communication between theinterior of the fine and the pockets, said pockets provided withinclined walls for diverting solid matter into the casing and away fromthe circnmferential slots, substantially as described.

3. An apparatus of the kind described comprising a cylindrical casingmounted for rotation, a fine disposed lengthwise of the casing, a seriesof annular pockets havinginner and outer walls of an alternate ridge andfurrow section, the furrow on the outer face of the inner wall beingopposite the ridge on the outer face of the outer wall, said pocketshaving circumferential slots provided in the respective ridge parts ofthe inner and outer walls, substantially as described.

t. In apparatus for carrying out processes in the use of materials in afinely divid ed condition and in which a rotary casing is employed, aflue provided with a series of annular intercepting pockets formed ofmetal plates having peripheral parts and fiat flanges, a circular seriesof rods by means of which the said plates may be disposed in series toform the fine, the said plates forming inner and outer walls for theflue of an alternate ridge and fui row section, the furrow on the outerface of the inner wall being opposite to the ridge on the outer face ofthe outer wall, said respective ridge parts of the inner and outer wallshaving cylindrical spaces therebetween, substantially as described.

PHILIP POORE.

